Why are there Hakkas in China? Where is the birthplace of Hakkas?

A large number of Hakkas live in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Southeast Asia. The name Hakka is often mentioned by people, but when asked what Hakka is, many people can't answer it. Some people even ask, are Hakkas ethnic minorities? If so, why are there no Hakka families? If not, where does the name of Hakka come from and what does it mean?

First of all, it must be clear that Hakkas are not ethnic minorities, but a branch of the Han nationality.

The formation of Hakka is closely related to the historical changes and ethnic integration in China.

The beginning of troubled times in Tang Dynasty: Yang Guifei and Tang Huang Ming

The Han nationality originated in the Weihe Plain on the Loess Plateau and belongs to the descendants of China. With the change of the natural environment in the Yellow River basin and the influence of the "Eight Kings Rebellion" and the "Five Rebellions" in the Western Jin Dynasty, a large number of Han people began to migrate from north to south. They passed through Nanyang, Henan, entered Xiangyang, and moved along the Hanshui River to Anhui and Jiangsu today. Some of them moved south to Jiangxi and Hunan.

After the "An Shi Rebellion", the national strength of the Tang Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline. In the sixth year of Tang Xizong (879), Huang Chao successively captured the counties in the south of the Yangtze River, with the peak of soldiers pointing to Chang 'an. The rule of the Tang dynasty is like a candle in the wind, which is in jeopardy.

The last pillar and barrier of the Tang Empire were the secretariat of Runzhou in the south of the Yangtze River and Gao Pian, the envoy from Zhenhai. Gao Pian has lived in Yangzhou for a long time, holding more than 70,000 elite soldiers and horses, and is located in the fertile soil of several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River. Gao Pian did not listen to Tang Xizong's orders, and stopped Huang Chao's army without firing a single soldier, causing more than 200,000 Huang Chao troops to cross the Yangtze River and Huaihe River and advance to Chang 'an.

An Shi Rebellion in 755-763 A.D.

Tang Xizong was furious and came to Gao Pian's office. Gao Pian simply rose to revolt and became a separatist regime in Jianghuai.

Later, in order to compete for the land of Jianghuai, the Tang Dynasty sent Qin Yan to surrender to Gao Pian. The local separatist forces, represented by Yang Xingmi, Zhu Wen and Sun Ru, killed Qin Yan to split Jianghuai. Since then, it has entered a melee in which local forces repeatedly competed for the land of Jianghuai, which is known as the Battle of Jianghuai in the late Tang Dynasty.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Jianghuai War, which lasted for six years, led to the loss of the last pillar and economic source of the Tang Dynasty. Zhu Wen rose rapidly in the melee and eventually destroyed the Tang Dynasty.

The most direct consequence of the melee between the Yangtze River and Huaihe River was that a large number of Han Chinese who had migrated since the Western Jin Dynasty fled and took refuge in relatively peaceful Jiangxi. During the Tang Dynasty, Jiangxi was under the control of Wei Quanfeng, the special envoy of our time. "Tan Quanzhuan" once recorded: Wei "reigned for seven years, and his words were prosperous."

Route map of five migrations of Hakkas

At that time, Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian were still wild places, and Jiangxi was relatively developed earlier. Coupled with the stable social environment and proximity to Jianghuai, Jiangxi has become the best choice for migrants.

Now a large number of Hakka genealogies show that ancestors moved from Jiangxi for this reason, and many genealogies record that ancestors moved from Nanjing, which is correct. Because after Chen Houzhu's subjugation, Nanjing became the object of various forces' contention, and it was located in the Jianghuai area, so a large number of residents in Nanjing also moved to Jiangxi.

Hakka ancestral hall

As for the migration from Huang Chao or Anshi Rebellion recorded in many family genealogies, it is a bit unreliable. Because, during the Anshi Rebellion, northerners basically moved to Jianghuai and Jiangnan. And Huang Chao is a direct drive to Chang 'an, and there is no war with Gao Pian in Jianghuai. On the contrary, the large-scale scuffle between Jianghuai led to a large number of people moving out.

Therefore, at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the population of Yuanzhou and Tingzhou in Jiangxi increased greatly. In the records of the uprising of Chen Ben, a native of Tingzhou in Zi Tongzhi Jian, we can see that Chen Bengang began to lead the local aborigines, and in the third year of the uprising, a large number of Han people joined, which proved the fact that a large number of Han people were integrated into Tingzhou at this time.

According to "Yuanfeng Jiuyu Song Geography" in the Northern Song Dynasty, a large number of people flooded into Jiangxi in the late Tang Dynasty, and the number of immigrants in Tingzhou reached 172432, Chongning (1 102) and Qingyuan 2 18570.

Fujian Tulou is a Hakka settlement.

It can be concluded that the population of a state in southern Jiangxi alone is more than 200,000. Therefore, in the whole immigrant area (south Jiangxi and west Fujian), there are millions of immigrants living in settlements.

This immigrant-populated area of one million people formed an independent cultural area, and Hakka dialect was also formed at this time.

Weilongwu, a famous Hakka settlement in Meizhou, Guangdong Province

In February of the seventh year of Jiaku (1062), Xin Si said:

Jiangxi is Qianzhou, which is connected with Guangnan by land, and Tingzhou in Fujian is also connected with Qianzhou. Salt is good, so it doesn't produce salt, while people in Erzhou steal Guangnan salt to make a profit. Every autumn and winter, when the land is finished, hundreds of people often take it with them, holding armor and drums, and travel back and forth between the eight States of Qian, Ting, Zhang, Hu, Xun, Hai, Hui and Guang. When it comes to robbing people of food and silk, robbing women, fighting with patrolling officials and killing officials and soldiers, it will start with thieves, depending on the visual impairment, but you can't catch them or forgive their crimes. Time is full of immersion.

This passage directly shows that a huge non-governmental organization has formed in southern Jiangxi and western Fujian. Because there was no salt in Jiangxi, these teams formed troops to sell illicit salt in Guangzhou and other places. In addition, these people rob property and women, even against the government.

Hakka marriage customs

And this group is the Hakkas who moved to Gannan.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, a large number of Hakka people in southern Jiangxi began to migrate to Guangdong. "Meizhou Tujing" records: "The land is open for the people.

Lazy, but the farmer is fresh, learning Ting, Jiangxi overseas Chinese farming. "

It can be seen that the formation of Hakka people began to spread and migrate on a large scale in the Northern Song and Southern Song Dynasties, forming Hakka culture all over the world.

In addition, Hakkas also experienced the great migration of the Qing army to slaughter Han people and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement in the late Qing Dynasty. A large number of Hakkas rushed out of Guangdong and Guangxi and moved to China provinces for population migration. In the history of Hakka, there were five great migrations: Western Jin Dynasty, Late Tang Dynasty, Southern Song Dynasty, Early Qing Dynasty and Late Qing Dynasty.

Hakka villages in Meizhou, Guangdong Province today

At present, there are about 80 million Hakkas in the world, including 50 million in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Sichuan, 6 million in Hongkong, Taiwan Province and Macau, and 6,543,800+0.5 million in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and the United States.

Famous Hakkas include Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong in Singapore, Thaksin Shinawatra in Thailand, famous singer Leslie Cheung and athlete Dānlín.